Wave motor



Dec. 29, 1925- 1,567,470 1 H. SETTLE WAVE MOTOR Filed Jan. 30, 1922 ggl.

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I affozncq Patented Dec. 29, 1925.

v UNITED STATES THOMAS H. SETTLE, OF SAN FERNANDO, CALIFORNIA.

WAVE MOTOR.

Application filed January 30, 1922.

T 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Tnoaras H. SETTLE, a citizen of the United States,residing at San Fernando, in the county of Los Angeles and State ofCalifornia, have invented new and useful Improvements in Vave Motors, ofwhich the following is a specification.

My invention relates to a device for generating mechanical power by thesurface motion of bodies of water, such as by the motion of waves,swells and the like, and an object of my invention is to provide a meanswhereby an undulating motion such as is imparted to a buoyant structuresupported on the surface of the ocean or other large body of water, maybe converted into a mechanical motion and utilized as a source of power.

Another object is to provide a buoyant structure comprising a pluralityof floats so connected together as to be capable of articulate movementrelative to each other, and also to provide means whereby the motion ofthe floats in respect to each other may be employed in the propulsion ofpower transmission machinery.

With the foregoing objects in view together with such other objects andadvantages as may subsequently appear my invention resides in the partsand in the construction, arrangement and combination of parts ashereinafter specified and claimed and illustrated in the accompanyingdrawings, in which;

Figure 1 is a plan view of the device;

Fig. 2 is a view in side elevation;

Fig. 3 is a detail in horizontal section of the mechanism for convertinga reciprocal rotary motion into a continuous rotary motion, as seen atright angles to the plane of line 3-3 of Fig 1.

Referring to the drawing more specifically 5 indicates a platform ordeck which is carried on a plurality of floats or barges 6 arranged endto end and attached to the platform in such manner as to have verticalmovement relative thereto and also to have movement independent of eachother. The connection between the platform and floats comprises a seriesof upwardly extending bars 7 pivoted at their lower ends to the floats,which bars are formed with rows of rack teeth 8 and 9 on their oppositesides facing the direction of pivotal movement of the bars and whichpivotal movement is in the direction of the length of the platformSerial No. 532,882.

and floats. Meshing with the rack teeth are pmions 10 and 11 on shafts12 and 13. A bar 7 is located at each of the corners of a square on eachfloat so as to provide a pair of the bars adjacent each end of the floatwith a bar disposed near each side thereof, and a pair of the parallelshafts 12 and 13 lead toward the longitudinal cen ter of the platformfrom each toothed bar. The inner ends of each shaft 12 and 13 is fittedwith a loose sleeve 14:, a pin 15 on the shaft projecting into alongitudinal slot 16 j on the sleeve whereby the sleeve may rotate withthe shaft and at the same time have longitudinal movement relativethereto. The outer end of the sleeve is formed with ratchet teeth 17which normally engage corresponding teeth 18 on an idler beveled gear19; a spring 20 being arranged to act on the sleeve to press it againstthe gear. EX- tending longitudinally of the platform is a shaft 21fitted with beveled gears 22 which mesh with the gears 19 at the ends ofthe shafts 12 and 13. The shaft 21 is here shown as provided with acrank 24: conneeted to a pitm an rod 25 of a pump or compressor 26.

Vertical guide rails 27 project downwardly from the sides of theplatform along the sides of the floats to hold the latter inlongitudinal alignment with the platform.

Pivoted at 28 adjacent each end of the platform is a link 29 whichextends down wardly and is pivotally connected at 30 adj acent the innerend of the float, and pivoted at 31 at the center of the platform is apair of links 32 which extend downwardly and are pivoted at 33 adjacentthe outer ends of the floats. A corresponding set of the links isprovided on each side of the device.

In the operation of the invention the platform is moored in any suitablemanner so that the floats may have vertical movement relative theretoand positioned with the floats extending longitudinally in the generaldirection of flow of waves or swells in such manner that as waves andswells pass lengthwise beneath the floats the latter will be caused tohave a rocking or undulating movement relative to the platform and toeach other thereby imparting a reciprocal movement to the toothed barswhich in turn will impart a reciprocal rotary motion to the shafts 12and 13. The motion of the shafts 12 and 13 will be converted intocontinuous rotary motion by the action of the ratchet toothed sleevesand the gears 19 and 22 as is common in transmission mechanism of thischaracter.

I claim:

1. In a Wave motor, a platform, a plurality of floats arranged end toend beneath said platform, crossed links connecting each float to theplatform limiting longitudinal movement of the floats relative to theplatform, toothed bars pivoted to the floats eX- tending upwardly andadapted to reciprocate on vertical movement of the floats relative tothe platform, and means for trans mitting the movement ofthe bars.

2. A Wave motor comprising a platform, a float, a pairof crossed linksconnecting thefloat to the platform whereby the float may haveundulating movement relative to the platform, means for guiding thefloat, and transmission mechanism operable by movement of the floatrelative to the platform.

S. In a Wave motor, a platform, a. float, a pair of crossed links havingtheir upper end portions .pivotally connected to the plat form andhaving their lower end portions pivotally connected to the floatadjacent the ends of the latter, whereby the float may have anundulating movement relative to the platform, means for guiding thefloat, and transmission mechanism operable by vertical movement of theend portions of the float relative to the platform.

THOMAS H. SETTLE.

